Twine-box



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

w. R. BENNETT AND o. S'roRER, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TWINE-Box.

Specification of Letters Patent No, 20,931, dated duly 20, 1858.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, W. R. BENNETT and C. STORER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Twine Box for the Use of Store-Keepers and Others, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l. is a View ofthe box, with a portion of the lid and part of the front broken away to show the parts within. Fig. Q. detail to be referred to hereafter.

Retail store keepers, druggists and others who have occasion to tie up a great number of packages in the course of the day, generally keep the ball of twine from which they are using, in some convenient receptacle from which they may draw out the twine as required, to such receptacle is often attached a knife on which to cut the twine after the package is tied up.`

The object of our present invention is to improve the construction and arrangement of such receptacles or twine boxes, that they may contain two or more balls of twine, the ends of which may be brought out in succession as one ball is exhausted, without the delay of introducing another ball into the box, and passing the twine from it through a hole as is now necessary, and our invention consists in a device for holding and bringing out the twine from the ball, so that when one is exhausted, the end from another may be brought out without delay, and in so guarding the edge of the knife attached to the box, that the persons using it will not be liable to wound their hands, and yet that the twine when pressed down on the knife in a hurried manner, will always strike on the edge in such a position as to insure its being cut off.

That others skilled in the art may understand and use our invention we will proceed to describe the manner in which we have carried out the same.

In Fig. l. A, is the box made of suitable material and of convenient size and form. The lid B, is shown as partly broken away to display the parts within. The bottom C, is made removable, for convenience of construction and is supported on a anch attached to the sides. From the bottom C, rises a spindle a, which carries a loose bobbin b, of the form shown in Fig. 2 that is with the bottom tapering from its base to its point, so asto allow it to be inserted into an ordinary bally of twine, and by pressing the ball down onto it to hold the ball fast to itand cause them to revolve together, the lower end of the bobbin where it rests on the bottom C is rounded off as at c, to reduce the friction and make it run smoothly on the bottom. The box represented, is intended to contain three balls of twine, and is furnished with three such bobbins.

d, is a ball of twine on one of the bobbins.

Near the front of the box and having its bearings in the sides of the box, is a shaft D, which is revolved by turning the thumb piece e, on the end of it that projects through the side of the box; to the middle of this shaft it attached a disk f, from the periphery of which project three light springs z' (made of a piece of watch spring) on the outer end of each of which is secured an eyelet g. The position of the shaft D is such with regard to the front of the box atthat as it is revolved in the direction of the arrow, each of the eyelets as it comes around shall bear against the box and partially project through a slot Z, cut in the front of the box (as shown in Fig. l). The twine from each ball is passed through one of the eyelets g (the eyelet may be split for the convenience of inserting the twine.)

In Fig. l the twine m, from the ball cZ, is shown passed through an eyelet g, which has been thrown by its spring z' into the slot Z. It will be seen that as the eyelet falls into the slot, the bight of the string is projected through the slot and is ready for the person using it to take hold of the twine and draw it from the box. When this ball has been exhausted it is only necessary to turn the shaft D, a portion of a turn, when another eyelet g, will drop into the slot Z, and the twine from another ball will be brought out through the front of the box. In this manner any required number of balls may be used in succession without the delay of opening the box and drawing out the ends, during the busy part of the day.

To the front 71 of the box immediately below the slot Z, is attached a knife for cutting oil" the twine as -itis used. This is constructed and arranged in the following manner: A metallic ard E, of the form shown in the drawings 1s secured to the box A. It

is divided by a notch n, into two portions 1 and 2. To the lower portion 2, is attached the knife blade o, (slightly inclined) over which the upper portion 1 projects in such a inanner as to prevent the person using it from striking the hand onto the knife, While the upper edge 7", is inclined and rounded oli so that When the string to be cut is distended by the hands of the operator, and is brought down vertically across the edge r, it will slide down this edge and fall into the notch n, Where it Will strike on the edge of the knife 0, between its outer point and its junction at 3, With the upper edge of the notch7 and as the string is brought down over the edge of the knife, it will be cut oi Vitnesses:

THos. R. RoAoH, P. E. TESCHEMACHER. 

